Pope calls for peace amid concern over his security

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Pope Benedict called on the world to abandon violence and vengeance on Friday and showed no sign of strain after an "unstable" woman lunged at him, forcing him to the ground, on Christmas Eve.

In his traditional "Urbi et Orbi" message to the city and the world from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica, the pope urged the world to rediscover the simplicity of the Christmas message and read Christmas greetings in 65 languages.

As the pope spoke to tens of thousands of people in the square below, the Vatican remained focused on Thursday night's incident, which raised again the question of how the pope can be protected while still having close contact with people.

Susanna Maiolo, 25, an Italian-Swiss national, shocked the Catholic world and Vatican security when she jumped over a barricade in the basilica, lunged at Pope Benedict, grabbed his vestments and caused him to fall to the marble floor.

The Vatican said she was "psychologically unstable" and unarmed and the pope was not hurt in any way. She was taken to an Italian hospital for psychological treatment.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said on Friday that it was impossible to provide watertight security for the pope because being close to people is part of his mission.

"It is impossible to prevent every possibility of something happening, even at close range," Lombardi told reporters.

"The pope wants to have a direct, pastoral relationship with people where you can touch children, shake hands and do what you want to do and what the people want you to do," Lombardi said.

"If you want watertight security you can't do that. Being out of touch with people, being far from them, runs against the spirit of his mission so there will always be a risk," he said.